Every month, we introduce you to an interesting woman living in Languedoc. Curious as we are, we would like to find out why she lives in this beautiful region, what she does for a living, and some of her Languedoc favourites. This month, Wendy Gedney invited me for a cup of tea so I could ask her all about her French journey. Recently retired from her wine touring business, Vin En Vacances, which she ran with great success for 15 years – Wendy is about to publish her first novel.
Introduction
Before my French adventure, I was a wine teacher in England. I ran courses for the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET), which is the wine education body of the whole world.
First Time Visiting the Region
That must have been 1990 with John, my late-husband, and our children. We were in the Lagrasse area in the Aude department. I remember sitting in the car while driving around and thinking I could live here. Funny enough, back then, it already felt like my place.
Settling in Languedoc
After John’s death, my life was completely shaken upside down. I needed a goal to be able to carry on, and I found one in memory of my late-husband. He was a wine buff, and after I had followed a wine course, which led to my becoming a qualified wine teacher in five years, it was time for the next step. I was teaching wine in stark grey classrooms and thought it was much more appealing to be doing it in a beautiful environment instead. So, I decided to go to Languedoc to rent a cottage for six months to explore the area with the idea of starting a vineyard tour business. It was successful and I loved it, so for five years I spent my time between England and France teaching wine studies in the winter and running tours in the summer. Until I bought a cottage in 2013 and settled in the South of France. If John had been looking down from heaven, I know he would have been proud of me. But maybe also a tad jealous.
Seventeen years after my big loss I went back to England to stay with my oldest son. One evening, I went to a concert with a friend. Without knowing, she managed to take my phone and install Tinder. After secretly creating my profile, the first man she swiped to the right was Fisher, my now husband (1). He lived in England, though. So besides falling in love with me, I also had to make him fall in love with the South of France. Luckily, that wasn’t too hard, and now we live in the Minervois area, where we renovated an old winery in Villeneuve-Minervois (2).
Vin en Vacances
I started my business, Vin en Vacances, in 2009, and for the first ten years it stormed along. It was great fun but hard work organising so many wine tours with the magical Languedoc landscape as a backdrop. During Covid, I had to close down for two years – well, minus the six weeks that I managed to operate. After the pandemic, I ran the business for another three years before retiring in October 2024.
Author
As I always had been putting words to paper, I finally had the time to focus on writing again. I absolutely love this second career. Being more of a hobby than a business, it allows me to write from a different mindset. My first project was relaunching my self-published book ‘The Wines of the Languedoc-Roussillon’ (3). I wrote this guide about the history and the many appellations in the area, as I missed this information when discovering the Languedoc wine region myself. It’s a very accessible book aimed at anyone who enjoys a glass of wine and would like to know more about this fascinating and exciting part of France.
Besides this wine guide, I am about to launch my first novel. It is a story partly set in Paris and Languedoc – of course – and inspired by a grand old French bed I bought and restored years ago. On my Substack pages – Wendy Gedney and the Franco-Files – you can read more about it and I will keep you posted on the actual launch. And I have a ‘primeur’: I just started my second novel!
Setting Up a Business in France
It was too difficult to set up my business, Vin en Vacances, in France, mainly due to the bureaucracy. Therefore, I found another way by creating a vineyard touring agency in the UK which my son ran for me. I’d also say it helps to speak French, which I didn’t do very well in the beginning.
Living in the South of France
Besides the climate and the pace of life, I now have more friends than I did when living in England. Before moving to France, I didn’t think I would mix with expats. However, it is important to find your own tribe and to do so, common language is important. I decided to open my mind and now most of my best friends here come from abroad. The fact that we all have in common starting a new life in France created great bonds.
Best Languedoc Wine
If you have a trained palette, you want to be surprised and puzzled by a wine. And you want to have food with it. To me, it is the white wine L’Inattendu (4) from Clos du Gravillas. I love this wine not only because of its fantastic flavour but also because of the people who make it. The first time I tasted L’Inattendu, it made me sit up, thinking “Wow, what is this?!”. The wine estate that made it, Clos du Gravillas, is run by the lovely French Nicole and American John. They were pioneers in the region and make beautiful unusual organic wines. For example, the grape varieties used to make L’Inattendu are Grenache blanc and gris and Maccabeu. Quite revolutionary if you know that most winemakers in the Saint-Jean-de-Minervois area plant Muscat grapes on the white limestone soil.
Favourite Restaurant
Restaurant Lo Cagarol in Aigne is nothing posh or fancy, but simply a lovely place to enjoy good food. During the 15 years that I have been going there I never ever had a bad meal. I took my wine tour guests there for years, and I also enjoy going there privately. The Chef, Christophe, is inventive and comes up with different flavours.
Perfect Day Out in Languedoc
My perfect day would be not too hot, not too cold, and not too windy. One of my hobbies is walking, so I would go to Minerve (5), one of my favourite places and where my heart is, to cross the river and walk through the gorge. After this re-energising boost, I would take my car and drive to nearby Aigne to have lunch at Lo Cagarol.
